


With Powdered Rouge

by SapphireMoons



Series: Upon the Dragon Throne [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akashi is Akashi, Ancient Palace AU, Ancient Palace Drama, Blood and Torture, Death Threats, Emperor Akashi, Empress Kuroko, Establish AkaKuro, Everyone is Rightfully Scared, I Dunno Still, Implied Backstory, Jealousy, Kuroko is Not Happy, M/M, Manipulation, One Shot, Possessive Behavior, Possible Continuation, Two-Parter Cuz Author Can't Decide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:22:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27608953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireMoons/pseuds/SapphireMoons
Summary: Akashi-kun promised.Kuroko is the Empress. But he is also a husband. And he will make the world burn before he has to share what is his.
Relationships: Akashi Seijuurou/Kuroko Tetsuya, Akashi Seijuurou/OC (Sort Of)
Series: Upon the Dragon Throne [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018578
Comments: 3
Kudos: 111





	With Powdered Rouge

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warnings: Implied Torture / Manipulation, Jealousy, Possessive Behavior and Thoughts, Implied Cheating (sort of).
> 
> Rating is for the implied torture. Just in case.
> 
> Can be read as a one-shot. Or together with the previous part.

Lithe fingers ran through silky hair, perfumed oils and scents buffeting the air as the figure in the reflection applied her make-up flawlessly with the other hand. Golden powder was meticulously spread over smooth eyelids, just above ebony lines, as sharp as her infamous tongue. Slowly and with care, she continued.

The remains of priceless porcelain vases covered the ground by her socked feet, shards threatening to spill blood and color the floor red.

_Red does not suit you._

The brush curled over delicate lashes, adding some pearlescent hue to her brown eyes _._

~~_She does not touch any of her rouge. She does not let her blood spill. She does not get any red on her._ ~~

~~_She does not dare._ ~~

A single figure watched her. ~~Ever since she entered the palace.~~

He wouldn’t have missed it. For it was a spectacle to behold. To watch her _die_.

It was all his doing anyway.

~~_From the very beginning._ ~~

Kuroko Tetsuya was not an overly complicated individual.

He did not believe that people were. If aware of any individual’s intentions and motivations, it did not take much else to predict their way of thinking. No matter how twisted or mangled the mind, in the end, it all ended in motivation — to protect, to survive, to die, to satisfy, and to possess — all that changed was everyone’s definitions of it.

It all could be summed to what did they want in the end.

His was simple.

He protected what was his, those in his way were removed, ~~whether it be through violent means or not, was not his concern.~~ He survived with tooth and nail, for he had no intention to die just yet. He colored his hands red when it suited him ~~because his husband loves the color over his skin in more ways than one.~~

His people are his.

One was wholly his — with only one mistress. _His nation._

The connotation is not wrong. Kuroko Tetsuya was the principal spouse, the nation the secondary — that much was made clear in the eve of their consummation, the Red Emperor, naked and under his blade. Merciless, as the Empress informed his Emperor that between the choice of his empire and his husband, it must be the empire that _burns_.

(Akashi-kun smirks, fingers stroking his empress’ unmoved face.

He leans up, flesh kissing the metal as those lips haze Tetsuya’s ear. The empress narrows his eyes, rolling the antidote in his cheek. Both know the poison slowing Akashi-kun's heart. Neither address it.

“Tetsuya. My bloodthirsty Empress. The world will _burn_ before I allow them to tear you away from me.” Blood spills so softly, it is almost dark in the midnight. Kuroko preens internally. He had always loved his husband covered in blood. “You may fool all the world with your benevolence, but I know _better_. I know the pleasure in your fingertips as those scum you had disposed of bleed before you, beg for their lives, plead for the mercy you mimic, oh so well. You are as forgiving as a god, but like a god, you are swift and cruel. And I, your loyal servant, plea for you for believe me, love, or may you strike me here and now.”

The Empress does not move. Tilting his head, as if trying to decide whether or not his husband’s words were true.

But Akashi-kun knows better.

He knows that Kuroko knows that Akashi-kun’s words are true. What he is thinking is, whether or not, his husband can _afford_ his words.

It does not take him long to.

“My emperor.” Tetsuya breathes, lips lapping the blood before the assassin stares up to meet heterochromic eyes with a half-lidded glare of lust. “I am _yours_. And you are _mine_. This servant is merely reminding His Majesty, that his Empress is eternally by his side, and his side alone. It would be unwise for His Majesty to forget this even when the world is burning.”

By the end of his words, the Empress meets his Emperor’s lips.

Neither of them sleep. Therefore, neither of them die.)

Kuroko finds her draped over his husband. She kneels at his feet, painted nails digging holes into the sheer black and red robes of His Majesty as his hands hold her up, long lashes fanned over alabaster cheeks.

She is not unconscious. ~~She is breathing too quickly to be.~~

Kuroko arrives without announcement, which is not too unusual, for the Empress is often crowned in his famous bell ornaments, twinkling with his movements.

~~For the sake of others more than himself.~~

Only eight people know that Kuroko Tetsuya can move with it just as silently as without. But he does not this time.

He has no change in expression at their indecent display.

Not even when he bows to his emperor and makes his exit.

Not even when he can hear the sounds of his husband calling him behind him.

Not even when Aida Riko glances behind him as he walks out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Not even when his emperor finally catches up to them with his entourage, having ordered him to stop.

He does. ~~Because his husband is his emperor.~~

“Greetings to His Majesty.” He bows. ~~Because his husband is his emperor.~~

“At ease, Tetsuya.” Akashi-kun sighs. “Allow me to explain.”

Kuroko rises a brow. “This servant does not _allow_ His Majesty to do anything. His Majesty is free to do as his wishes — but concerning this servant, I, require no explanation. Not from His Majesty.”

And with a bow, he leaves the courtyard with the twinkling of bells and his husband behind him.

Not because his husband is his emperor.

~~But because Akashi-kun is his husband.~~

Rumors were the stuff of wildfire and palace rumors are the most uncontrollable of the lot — therefore, by sundown, everyone knew that the eternally committed Empress and Emperor were now estranged for the first time since they had wed. Sides were established, some remaining neutral and some adding to fire with false information — in the center of it all, Kuroko Tetsuya nursed a cup of sake, twirling the alcohol with a languid twist of his wrist.

In sheer lavender robes with white jade bangles and his famous crown, he mused to himself in the night.

He never cared for alcohol. ~~Dulling of the senses came with the dulling of his ability to kill.~~

But he can appreciate the pleasure in loss of unwanted memories, just for tonight. Pouring himself another, he eyes the moon as they befall to the spider lilies of his room.

The blossoms are red and hint at his mood.

Swallowing the bitter drink, he coos at the golden shackles of his throne.

~~His blood feels hot tonight and yet, he cannot soothe it. To stain his hands.~~

In his own palace, Akashi nursed a headache as he had managed to stop Kagami and Aomine from doing something stupid on behalf of his husband. Apparently, his Empress refused any visitors — including himself — under the ruse of being asleep ever since he had come onto the misunderstanding. Kise and Momoi had their own confrontations, both of them presenting to him the motives of the girl that had ‘accidentally’ fell into his arms and her history, with promises of retribution if the conflict with his husband was not resolved. Midorima had given the political, while Murasakibara supplied the financial reason with the same assurances.

But unlike their more hot-blooded past, they knew better than to directly interfere with this. It was business of the Emperor and the Empress to resolve themselves.

She was a flower offering from his advisors.

So-called supporters of the previous generation that wanted less revolutionary and more traditional systems — more specifically, sway over the dragon throne.

Huffing, the emperor smirks at their efforts. _How useless they would turn to be._

Robed in dark blue and with black crows over the hems of his sleeves, the Empress is applying his eyeliner when Aida Riko appears before him, face angered and lips thinned. But she knows her place, knelt yet lined with tense defiance.

“Your Majesty.”

“At ease. What is it, Aida-san? Is the palanquin here?”

“No, Your Majesty. His Majesty, the Emperor has sent a decree for you.” She pauses. “To promote Kobayashi Terumi into the Inner Court.”

The brush freezes in the pot of kohl before it is set aside, slowly.

“Very well. See to it.” The dismissal is as clear as day but true to the Seirin blood, the personal attendant shoots up in protest. Only to stop when she sees what her master is looking at. Eyes outlined, making them icier than ever before — the blank eyes are fixed on a pot of crimson rouge that the Empress rarely wears.

For it is saved for only one anniversary. For the emperor to see on him, _alone._

_Only the pot is not there._

Precious Ko is crowned by the Empress, himself.

She is levels below him.

His crown of bells twinkles more ornately than her beaded crown, his robes many times more fine than hers, and jewelry that drips off his ears far rarer — she wears one element that is above his — a familiar crimson shadow over her eyelids.

As she steps to accept the Emperor’s decree with the Empress’ approval, all eyes watch the main characters of the show, unaware of the undertones yet completely at the same time. 

The Emperor is not present, in Morning Assembly.

The Empress on a dais, golden fingers clawing a cup of fire sake and the new member of the Inner Court at his feet.

She cannot rise until the Empress decrees it, acknowledging her place in the harem.

~~Kuroko Tetsuya does not want to.~~

The Empress deigns her to stand as he stands from his throne, slow but graceful in his gait. Pausing, she cannot help but tense when his pink lips hover over her ear, words deliberate and low.

_“Red does not suit you.”_

The ministers are not idle to the changes of the Inner Court.

They preen the virtues of the new addition, veiling compliments and future favors to the only crowned female of the palace. They spread hearsay of the icy Empress, who had turned frigid in his jealousy, that his benevolence was lost in his stupor of betrayed slumber. They dare not to speak of the Emperor's neutrality at the rumors, how his heterochromic eyes are sharper than usual and how he spills more blood than needed.

~~_None dare to be so bold._ ~~

But one soul that was the Empress.

At least, that was the assumption, until one day, a soft twinkle of a voice interceded. _~~Too high to be the Empress.~~_

"Your Majesty. If, this servant, could be so bold to suggest, he does not deserve to die like that."

A pin could be heard dropping in the silent Morning Assembly.

Veiled, Precious Ko bowed behind the dragon throne, her jade shoes soft in gait as the Red Emperor _paused_.

Soft whispers were exchanged before a silence grew.

Fourteen seconds passed.

Tanned knuckles now white as they mirrored another pair of hardened bone, knelt at the front. Lips thinned at the unsightly display. The betrayal of a friend were the most prominent of colors as the Kiseki did nothing.

Because their Empress did _nothing_.

_Until he does._

Precious Ko awakens in the middle of the night, in the pavilion gifted to her — the House of Broken Jade. _Or so she thought._

No, instead, she is in the Cold Palace. ~~_Bare and broken, just like the women who were sent here._~~

The Empress meets her wide-eyed gaze from across the room, exquisite in the pale moonlight as he sits on his golden sedan. All of the people knew of the Empress' beauty after his coronation, blank icy blue eyes lined with red and gold. He was lithe, _almost_ unremarkable, yet there was a fragile beauty to the man — an aura of etherealness that someone dared not to taint. Even under all the layers of silk and priceless gold.

He is bare of such adornments now. And he never looked so regal to her.

His blue hair spills over in a high tail, pinned with senbon, one with a winking bell. His robes tight and as dark as the palace, highlighted with red camellias in the silk. Pointed nails free of gold fingernail protectors claw the armrests, as sandaled feet are revealed under the mesh netting of his garments.

Yet he is well-robed compared to her sole, white sleeping robe.

"Precious Ko."

"Y-Your Majesty." She stares back from her kneeling form, bowing, eyes wide with fear. 

The Empress does not deign her silent begging with a reaction.

"I had warned you." She flinches at the words, surprised, not expecting words of caution. "Yet, you do not listen. It may be that you are duller than I initially thought, considering your father's rhetoric."

"Y-Your M—!"

_"Spare me."_

She startles fully at the command, looking up to meet cold blue eyes.

"Your helpless facade of a maiden soul is not worth my eyes nor my presence to taint with. Spare me such circus acts." His face remains unchanged at every word, monotone. Yet she knows he means each one.

"I... This lowly one does not—"

"'—know what, Your Majesty is speaking of?'" Tetsuya finishes with a slight echo of mocking. "How obtuse. But no matter. You may continue, for I have made precautions. Having isolated myself out of duty to serve my husband to the best of my ability — includes to not allow any _trash_ to touch my person."

The Empress gestures to distance between them.

The taunt is successful as Precious Ko restrains herself in a flash.

_So, she knew enough to hold up a semblance of composure._

_"You_... how long?"

"Ever since you had transferred to my husband's palace." ~~_Since the beginning._~~

She decides the act is up. The Empress knew it. ~~The entire time.~~ Her plans are _ruined_.

 _"_ You may be the Empress, now. But I am a _Precious!_ _His Majesty,_ the Red Emperor _himself,_ bestowed this titl—!"

 _"I_ bestowed it to you, Precious Ko."

She stops. _"W-What?"_

He raises a brow at her. The only change in his expression all night. "His Majesty may have command of this servant, but this is a matter of the _Inner_ Court. His Majesty merely asked of me to elevate your status. He never said it to be a Precious."

( _"Tetsuya—"_

"If that is all that His Majesty has come to say, then this one shall leave first.")

"Moreover," The Empress continues, legs crossed. "You have never been able to come to my husband's bed."

Brown eyes widen.

("His Majesty does not wish to be disturbed." Reo bows as she is turned away. ~~_Again and again._~~ )

"You are a _flower_. Sent to seduce my husband. Who is supposed to take root in his dragon throne for others to leech off of him. And eventually allow for another dragon to spring from your embrace. Such was your purpose when your father had you as his brainchild ever since my ascension." The bell winks at her in the moonlight as the Empress tilts his head, coy, spelling out her father's plans. "Yet what use is a flower that cannot seduce a man to her embrace?"

 _Why. Why is he telling her all of this. When she is going to die by his hands._ She asks him.

He stops.

And smiles. _~~"Who said anything about dying by my hands?"~~_

That is when she notices he is wearing rouge on his lips as a bolt of pure white silk appears in his hands.

(On the side table sits a small pot for make-up. The one missing from the Empress' chambers. The one she stole.

It was not empty when she took it. It was not empty when she wore it when she was crowned.

It is empty now.)

_" ~~Red does not suit you."~~_

Morning Assembly is a congregation between an Emperor and his ministers, where the ministers and officials could voice suggestions and proposals in proper decorum. It is a sacred tradition that lasted dynasties and rulers alike. And it is frowned upon for any — if needed — member of the Inner Court to present unless absolutely required.

And if it was to be, then it was behind a screen.

Therefore, to see two of them at the Main Hall, without one, was near blasphemous. But that is not what makes them gape.

The Empress nods at them, thinly outlined eyes blank as ever — unchanged at their reactions.

As if the sight of a severely underdressed Empress eyeing a hanging Precious Ko from the ceiling beams as if she were another decoration was an everyday thing. Starkly contrasting the golden Main Hall, there was no chance of not seeing the deathly pale centerpiece.

_"W-What is this—!?"_

"It is Precious Ko, dead from hanging herself." Tetsuya states, dismissive almost as he turns away from the body. "She had wanted to die. I asked if I could watch. A smart one, you had sent in to seduce His Majesty, Minister Ko, if a bit dull."  
  
Heads snapped to the mentioned minister, frozen at the sight of his dead daughter.

~~No one notices that the gates have closed.~~

"What... What did you do to her? _What did you do?!"_

The Empress adjusts himself at the throne. "You are addressing the Empress of Teikou, Minister Ko. But due to the sudden loss of your daughter, I will allow the disrespect. This was none of my doing. As a member of the Inner Court, I was merely looking out for my kouhai."

"I—I... That _whore_ speaks lies! My daughter is dead bec—!"

~~No one notices the tightened knuckles of nine Seirin blooded men from above.~~

"Red does not suit her." Kuroko finishes, as the body falls to his feet with a loud thud, face to the floor. Many of ministers looked away as Minister Ko went to his daughter, the others too fearful of the second-most powerful man in the empire to move. "The red of royals is not for her to bear. I had warned her many times of her unworthiness. But she did not listen. Not until I had her _see."_

"See?" One of them squeaked, confused.

A sharp breath from Minister Ko had them turn to the man.

In his arms, the former Precious had porcelain eyes jammed into her sockets. ~~After her own eyes had been meticulously been carved out.~~

_"That she suited white far more than red."_

Everything in the Empress' demeanor is no longer blank and indifferent. Instead, it is cold with fury. Eyes burning with a need to destroy and tear underfoot with relishing pleasure.

The Empress waved a hand as his men from Seirin were unleashed upon them like a pack of thirsty wolves.

The bell twinkled happily, as bodies littered the Main Hall, painting the floors red when the Emperor entered.

To see his lovely Empress at his throne, smiling at him in his favorite rouge over his eyelids.

~~Oh, how he truly loved his Empress, covered in the red of his enemies.~~

Akashi sighed.

"I could have disposed of them, love."

_Not to mention how mouthy Tetsuya got when he was intoxicated. He could murder a man with just words. ~~And did.~~_

"Does Akashi-kun not trust this Empress?"

_He had only a few drinks. Honestly. His husband worried too much. He had plans for this... woman._

"...Tetsuya, love, I can hear your thoughts of that servant girl from here."

Kuroko sighs behind the dragon throne, jade shoes of his so-called _competitor_ pinching his feet. "Then His Majesty should know that this Empress will be fine in cementing his claim of his husband to the public to rule by His Emperor's side."

_~~With hands stained with blood.~~ _

For no one suits the red of his husband better than he.

_For Akashi-kun will never deny him._

**Author's Note:**

> HI!
> 
> So. I watched the Story of Yangxi Palace. And this happened.
> 
> In the first part, Akashi made his claim on Kuroko. This second part is just Kuroko doing the same, in his own way. Because Kuroko is not one for announcements. He'll just make you kill yourself. Like Precious Ko here.


End file.
